Stiq Figures, June 25 - July 1: Grim Fandango edition

Welcome to Stiq Figures, where the sales data is after the break and the posts don't matter. Every week, we take a look at, uh, something – meanwhile, the previous week's Japanese hardware sales figures are posted after the jump, and a discussion of said figures takes place in our comments. It may not be conventional, but it's a time-honored Joystiq tradition.

Before Tim Schafer hit the jackpot in a Kickstarter campaign, he had a storied career as a designer for games such as Grim Fandango, a 1998 LucasArts adventure title for PC. The game, as seen above, follows the hilarious and creative journey of Manny Calavera, a travel agent uncovering corruption in the Land of the Dead.

Grim Fandango borrows distinct style elements of film noir, which explains why many of the characters in the game smoke cigarettes. Interestingly enough, Schafer and company address the dirty habit in a footnote in the game's manual, seemingly to put the minds of players and parents at ease:

"For those who are disturbed by the amount of smoking in Grim Fandango, we offer two reasons: 1) we wanted to be true to the film noir atmosphere, and 2) everybody in the game who smokes is DEAD. Think about it."